This invention relates to a method of cleaning a floor and to an apparatus for cleaning a floor.
There are several different kinds of mops, one of the most widely used including a mop head to which a handle is secured, the mop head carrying a plurality of absorbent filaments e.g. of string, which depend from the mop head. The filaments are in use, wetted with a cleaning liquid, wrung out with a wringer, and then the mop is used to clean the floor, whilst still in a wet condition.
Although mechanically assisted wringers which include mechanically moveable jaws which press down on the filaments can wring out most of the cleaning liquid, such mops when wrung out, are still wetter than is ideally required, and a cleaned floor thus remains wet after cleaning, for typically at least several minutes, which during that time, presents a slipping hazard.
Another kind of mop includes a generally flat mop head to an upper side of which a handle is secured, and which carries on its lower side, absorbent fabric material. Flat mops are preferred in some applications, because of their ability to be used for simultaneous sweeping and mopping for example. Mops of the depending filament kind are not good at retaining loose dirt and a floor to be cleaned with such a mop generally requires sweeping first, to remove loose dirt. A flat mop tends to be more versatile in such situations.
A flat mop head typically includes a pair of relatively foldable parts. When these are relatively folded together, a loop of the fabric material depends from the mop head and once wetted with a cleaning liquid in a container, this loop may be introduced into a wringer for wringing prior to use for cleaning a floor. However hithertofore, moveable jaw wringers which enable wringing to be carried out with mechanical assistance, have been designed for general wringing for different sizes and kinds of mop head, and have not enabled all of the absorbent fabric material of a flat mop to be wrung out, and so again, such flat mops have been used in a wetter condition that is ideally required.